International Women’s Day: Status of women in the Philippines

TODAY is International Women’s Day. Established in 1997 by the United Nations, it is a tradition that celebrates decades of struggle by women all over the world for “equality, justice, peace, and development.”

One of the most important issues facing women in the Philippines is the lack of access to reproductive health services. The maternal mortality rate in the country is pegged at 170 per 100,000 live births. This is a dismal figure compared to our neighbors: Thailand at 36 per 100,000 live births, Malaysia at 50 per 100,000 live births, and Vietnam at 95 per 100,000 live births.

The Philippine data from the National and Demographic Survey of 1998 are the latest available on maternal mortality. And due to large sampling errors, it is difficult to conclude on the real status of maternal health in the Philippines. The absence of new and accurate data make it difficult to assess the maternal health of women.

“The Philippines is a country that loves and adores mothers. Yet ironically we do not take care of them,” said University of the Philippines professor Leonor Briones at a recent forum. “Even if we adore the Virgin Mary and our mothers, (our neighboring countries) take better care of their mothers.”

Part of the Millennium Development Goals that the country is committed to achieve is to reduce maternal mortality rate by three quarters by 2015. Another goal is to increase access to reproductive health services to 80 percent by 2010, and 100 percent by 2015.

Briones stressed that the government should be willing to spend money if it is determined to achieve those targets. She noted that the President, in her 10-point agenda for 2006, did not mention anything on gender or maternal health.

“Public finance is the best test of a government’s priority. The budget is the key,” Briones explained. “We can talk about monitoring but if we are not prepared to spend, nothing will happen to save the lives of our mothers.”

Below are some important statistics on women in the Philippines:

Population

Projected population
Women – 42.4 M
Men – 42.9 M
(2005, NSO)

Life expectancy at birth
Women – 70.1 years
Men – 64.1 years
(2005, NSO)

Education

Simple literacy rate (%)
Women – 92.7
Men – 92.5
(2000, NSO)

Enrollment (%)
Of those enrolled in elementary
Girls – 49
Boys – 51
(2000-2001, NSO)

Of those enrolled in high school
Girls – 51
Boys – 49
(2000-2001, NSO)

Of those enrolled in college
Girls – 56
Boys – 44
(2001-2002, NSO)

Health and nutrition

Proportion of obese (%)
Women – 5.7
Men – 3.0

Proportion of underweight (%)
Women – 14.2
Men – 10.6
(2003, FNRI)

Reproductive health

Total fertility rate – 3.5
(2003, NDHS)

Total wanted fertility rate – 2.5
(2003, NDHS)

Contraceptive use among married women age 15-49 – 48.9%
(2003, NDHS)

Proportion of women with a live birth in the five years before the survey (%)
No antenatal care – 6
Received more than two doses of tetanus toxoid – 37
(2003, NDHS)

Proportion of live births in the five years before the survey (%)
Delivered in a health facility – 38
Assisted by a doctor, nurse, or midwife at delivery – 60
(2003, NDHS)

Maternal mortality rate – 170/100,000 live births
(2005, UNDP)

Lifetime risk of maternal death – 1 in 120
(2000, Unicef)

HIV/AIDS

Estimated number of women age 15-49 living with HIV – 2,000
(2003, Unicef)

Proportion of women who know condom can prevent HIV – 50%
(2003, Unicef)

Proportion of women who know that healthy-looking people can have HIV – 67%
(2003, Unicef)

Work and economic participation

Labor force participation rate (%)
Women – 47.2
Men – 82.9
(October 2004, NSO)

Unemployment rate (%)
Women – 12.4
Men – 10.4
(October 2004, NSO)

Overseas workers
Women – 502,000
Men – 554,000
(October 2002, NSO)

Female administrators and managers (% of total) – 58.1
(2005, HDR)

Female professional and technical workers (% of total) – 61.8
(2005, HDR)

Ratio of female earned income to male earned income – 0.59
(2005, HDR)

Proportion of women-headed households – 5.4%
(2000, NSO)

Agriculture

No. of holders of Certificates of Land Ownership Agreement (CLOA)
Women – 16,616
Men – 33,711
(2003, DAR)

Proportion of unpaid family workers (%)
Women – 15.9
Men – 8.2

Public life

Women occupying elective and appointive positions (%)

Legislative
Philippine Senate – 14
House of Representatives – 18
City and municipal council – 17
Provincial board – 17

Executive
Cabinet secretaries – 20
Provincial governors – 19
City and municipal mayors – 8

Judiciary
Supreme Court – 29
Court of Appeals – 20
Sandiganbayan – 20
(2004, CLD)

Violence against women

Number of cases of violence against women every day – 20

Of total cases of violence against women
Rape – 17%
Wife battering – 48%
(2004, NCRFW)

Suffrage

Registered voters
Women – 18,371,329 (50.53% of total)
Men – 17,983,569 (49.47% of total)
(2001, Comelec)

Gender-related development index (GDI)

Rank out of 140 countries – 63
(2005, HDR)

Sources:
CLD – Center for Legislative Development
Comelec – Commission on Elections
DAR – Department of Agrarian Reform
FNRI – Food and Nutrition Research Institute
HDR – Human Development Report
NCRFW – National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women
NDHS – National Demographic and Health Survey
NSO – National Statistics Office
Unicef – United Nations Children’s Fund
UNDP – United Nations Development Programme